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- Nov 26, 2013
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No comparison from me between the TF10 - do not have it - and the CE6P but I will try to provide some details about my experience the last few days with the CE6P and some comparison notes to my re-shelled SD2.
Massive caveats just as with my impressions of the SD2.
1. I am completely unqualified to make any objective assessment of highs or lows and mids, I just know if I like or not of what I hear.
2. My sources are very very humble, they constitute of the Apple family of products (iPhone 6, iPad Mini Retina, Macbook Air 2012). I do not have an amp at the mom or a dedicated DAP. I have funded the Wave campaign on kickstarter and that will be my first and only dedicated DAP- when or even if that ever materialises.
3. Vast majority of my music is on 256 AAC iTunes and Spotify's 320KB. I have a few CDs ripped as ALACs but they are very few.
I have to say that I love the sound of my SD2s, So much so that when I smashed them up I went ahead and re-shelled them through CE and then I loved them that much more. The custom fit and a bit of Phil magic made them incrementally but audibly better. However comparing them to my L2 I always felt that they were missing something. I call it coherence, it felt like sounds and voices were working in isolation apart from each other and you had to try some times to make a whole out of the parts. It is a very detailed clean and analytical sound with a clean very tight bass that is there but in small bite sized quantities.
I was persuaded that I wanted something with a bit more base, a bit more body, detailed but not clinical, but because I am not a bass head so I felt the CE6E might not be for me and went for the CE6P.
Waiting for the door bell meant that I was not listening to any music all morning, so when they came I put them on and played a few songs on my Air. Hm it was nice but it did not wow, nothing to go crazy over. But of course I kept listening, I thought maybe I was expecting too much or something, high hopes and all that as it is the first high-ish end earphone I have ever bought. Well it kept like that for a little while listening as I was working till an hour or so later...
I hit Children from Robert Miles and it was a sudden moment of realisation, I have never enjoyed this so much since the first time I ever heard it, lively, immediate, fun, exciting. It was like I heard the piece for the first time! And from there on it kept going a male duet of greek singers with a lot of guitars and nice base followed by some Billy Idol, a bit of Lana Del Ray... With every song I kept discovering new things, a small reverberation here, a sound from the singer there loving the completeness fluidity and musicality, the toe tapping ability of the base, it all felt new and fresh in my ears.
There is a sweetness and smoothness to it a lovely warmth. The detail is all there if you care to listen for it but it will not fatigue it will not bother because it is part of a whole, you can either let the music awash over you or you can listen carefully and pick things apart, your choice, the CE6P will do both. Guitars and pianos literally come alive, vocals are fantastic. I think a lot of it is because of the well controlled and lively but not over powering base. The CE6P has a lot more of it compared to the SD2 but it is there to provide a background and a framework for the music. It overpowers nothing but fills the gaps, does its job but it does not monopolise. It is more layered and definitely deeper than the SD2 too, it is not a single note base it is more articulate but equally as well controlled. it is the exact base that I was after, help with the fun factor but do not detract from the rest of the music. Maybe and that is me nitpicking, it could do with a tiny bit more base in some situations maybe I think this is more how I feel about some songs as opposed to how the earphone renders them.
My biggest fear though was losing the detail and air which is what I absolutely loved with my SD2. No chance, detail is there in spades, if anything you can find more details with the CE6P than with the SD2. nuances of the music and singers that I can definitely not hear with the SD2 I can definitely do so now. There is also openess and air when the song calls for it with good instrument separation. Soundstage is not massive comparable to the SD2 maybe a bit wider but it is neither the complete out of head nor the tiny speaker in your head experience.
So what this all means is that when a few hours later I thought I'd go back and listen to my SD2s the music was underwhelming almost incomplete and lacking in excitement and fun! It is almost as viewing a great house without furniture and you have to imagine what it could be, well all I have to do now is put the CE6 back on!
Now for a couple of things you need to be aware if you decide to go with it:
1. The CE6P requires, actually make that demands quality from the music. I have a fair amount of old music from my uni years in 128Kbps or stuff found here and there of obscure greek music that are to say the least of questionable quality. Well they do not sound good the problems are too obvious to let you enjoy the music. Also bad recordings can get quite sibilant. Greek female vocalists love their sss and it is a painful experience on bad recordings. The SD2 is relegated to these listenings now.
2. Also, and this is a theory, I think the CE6P can benefit a fair bit from a decent source. It does not require it, it goes loud and clean from an iPhone 6 but both my iPad and my MBA sound a fair bit better. There is more dynamic range, a bit of three dimensionality and liveliness and sparkle that is missing from the iPhone 6. However a more thorough comparison will have to wait the Wave,
In the end the best compliment I can make for the CE6P is that just this morning I made a radio station out of a type of music I don't particularly enjoy on Spotify, I loved every song I heard from it on my way to work. Way to go Phil many thanks!
Massive caveats just as with my impressions of the SD2.
1. I am completely unqualified to make any objective assessment of highs or lows and mids, I just know if I like or not of what I hear.
2. My sources are very very humble, they constitute of the Apple family of products (iPhone 6, iPad Mini Retina, Macbook Air 2012). I do not have an amp at the mom or a dedicated DAP. I have funded the Wave campaign on kickstarter and that will be my first and only dedicated DAP- when or even if that ever materialises.
3. Vast majority of my music is on 256 AAC iTunes and Spotify's 320KB. I have a few CDs ripped as ALACs but they are very few.
I have to say that I love the sound of my SD2s, So much so that when I smashed them up I went ahead and re-shelled them through CE and then I loved them that much more. The custom fit and a bit of Phil magic made them incrementally but audibly better. However comparing them to my L2 I always felt that they were missing something. I call it coherence, it felt like sounds and voices were working in isolation apart from each other and you had to try some times to make a whole out of the parts. It is a very detailed clean and analytical sound with a clean very tight bass that is there but in small bite sized quantities.
I was persuaded that I wanted something with a bit more base, a bit more body, detailed but not clinical, but because I am not a bass head so I felt the CE6E might not be for me and went for the CE6P.
Waiting for the door bell meant that I was not listening to any music all morning, so when they came I put them on and played a few songs on my Air. Hm it was nice but it did not wow, nothing to go crazy over. But of course I kept listening, I thought maybe I was expecting too much or something, high hopes and all that as it is the first high-ish end earphone I have ever bought. Well it kept like that for a little while listening as I was working till an hour or so later...
I hit Children from Robert Miles and it was a sudden moment of realisation, I have never enjoyed this so much since the first time I ever heard it, lively, immediate, fun, exciting. It was like I heard the piece for the first time! And from there on it kept going a male duet of greek singers with a lot of guitars and nice base followed by some Billy Idol, a bit of Lana Del Ray... With every song I kept discovering new things, a small reverberation here, a sound from the singer there loving the completeness fluidity and musicality, the toe tapping ability of the base, it all felt new and fresh in my ears.
There is a sweetness and smoothness to it a lovely warmth. The detail is all there if you care to listen for it but it will not fatigue it will not bother because it is part of a whole, you can either let the music awash over you or you can listen carefully and pick things apart, your choice, the CE6P will do both. Guitars and pianos literally come alive, vocals are fantastic. I think a lot of it is because of the well controlled and lively but not over powering base. The CE6P has a lot more of it compared to the SD2 but it is there to provide a background and a framework for the music. It overpowers nothing but fills the gaps, does its job but it does not monopolise. It is more layered and definitely deeper than the SD2 too, it is not a single note base it is more articulate but equally as well controlled. it is the exact base that I was after, help with the fun factor but do not detract from the rest of the music. Maybe and that is me nitpicking, it could do with a tiny bit more base in some situations maybe I think this is more how I feel about some songs as opposed to how the earphone renders them.
My biggest fear though was losing the detail and air which is what I absolutely loved with my SD2. No chance, detail is there in spades, if anything you can find more details with the CE6P than with the SD2. nuances of the music and singers that I can definitely not hear with the SD2 I can definitely do so now. There is also openess and air when the song calls for it with good instrument separation. Soundstage is not massive comparable to the SD2 maybe a bit wider but it is neither the complete out of head nor the tiny speaker in your head experience.
So what this all means is that when a few hours later I thought I'd go back and listen to my SD2s the music was underwhelming almost incomplete and lacking in excitement and fun! It is almost as viewing a great house without furniture and you have to imagine what it could be, well all I have to do now is put the CE6 back on!
Now for a couple of things you need to be aware if you decide to go with it:
1. The CE6P requires, actually make that demands quality from the music. I have a fair amount of old music from my uni years in 128Kbps or stuff found here and there of obscure greek music that are to say the least of questionable quality. Well they do not sound good the problems are too obvious to let you enjoy the music. Also bad recordings can get quite sibilant. Greek female vocalists love their sss and it is a painful experience on bad recordings. The SD2 is relegated to these listenings now.
2. Also, and this is a theory, I think the CE6P can benefit a fair bit from a decent source. It does not require it, it goes loud and clean from an iPhone 6 but both my iPad and my MBA sound a fair bit better. There is more dynamic range, a bit of three dimensionality and liveliness and sparkle that is missing from the iPhone 6. However a more thorough comparison will have to wait the Wave,
In the end the best compliment I can make for the CE6P is that just this morning I made a radio station out of a type of music I don't particularly enjoy on Spotify, I loved every song I heard from it on my way to work. Way to go Phil many thanks!
